Earlier this week Catharine attended an international expat women's group where she was able to meet people and more importantly make contacts to help get things done. She also got a list of places to eat, things to do, and places to buy things. We also visited a couple of international grocery stores where if you are willing to pay for it you can get what you need. For example I saw a 22 lbs frozen turkey for $100, quite a shock compared to the US.
Life here is getting easier and although we will be living in the hotel for some time to come, we are more comfortable in getting around, buying things and finding restaurants. Strange as it may seem, we still have not really had Chinese food except in the cafeteria at work. If the cafeteria is any indication, then we will not be eating much Chinese food. Most of the lunch menu is unrecognizable. I decided to be adventurous so I tried the meat and came to find out that chicken feet, bones and fat make up most of the dish. Oh well, now I stick to noodles and rice, that works for me.
But the best news of the week came from one of Tommy's friends, he told us about a way to access this site and facebook even though the government does not let you access it directly. I now hope that I will be able to get skype to work also.
We are in the process of putting an offer on an apartment about a 15 minute drive from the office and within walking distance of some friends and many shops. It is a large place with plenty of room for visitors. It has 4 bedrooms and baths and two stories. But the best advantage is that it is on the first floor which will make life with dogs much easier. It will be nice to have a place of our own and settle in.
Finally having a bank account here is a god send. We are now able to access local money and have less worries about money issues. Which meant that we had a great day yesterday shopping, shopping, and more shopping!
Yet another interesting governmental issue is that in order to get a residency permit, you need to have a health examination. So Thursday I went for my exam and it was much more thorough than I thought. I had a chest X-ray, Blood drawn, EKG, ultra sound, and extensive checkup. Why or what they will do with the info I have no idea nor does anyone else that I asked. The consensus is that it is one more way for the government to get money from the foreigners and employ people. But for us, it is just one more thing that we have to do. Speaking of governmental issues, one more came up when I decided that I need to travel to France next week. Well it seems that until the results of the health exam are known and we have successfully applied for our residence permit, I cannot get a visa which will allow me multiple entries into and out of the country, so for now it looks like I will have to do things from here. Just one more thing!!!
And maybe most importantly, I finally have a real reason to be here. It started the day I got here when I met the newly appointed head of the advanced development section for YanFeng-Visteon my new employer. Now this was the job for which I had applied and was looking forward to doing for the next two years, so now what?? Well it appeared that nobody really knew how I would fit into the organization, or at least not until Thursday afternoon when we had an all engineering management meeting. At this meeting I met the head of YanFeng-Visteon (YFV) engineering (a very energetic enthusiastic women who is also a member of the board of directors).. I had met her on previous visits and she was very glad to have me supporting her business. And after her presentation and subsequent discussion, it was clear that my job is to create a vision for advance at YFV, convince the board to fund it and then deliver it to make YFV global leaders in advanced technology development. WOW, be careful what you wish for!
Good luck, Dad!
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ReplyDeleteSounds like you've got a work assignment that will be exciting and interesting (albeit challenging) to go along with your exciting and interesting living experience.
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